Nowhere Like Home
by Rachel McN
Summary: Alone and exhausted, can he make it home?


**A/N: **My first foray into fanfic writing. Looking back on it, I like to think I've improved somewhat. Maybe? Yeah, I think so. xD Hopefully it's still worth a good read though.

* * *

"What now?"

"We tell Shredder, of course. He'll probably be so happy with us; he'll make us tech ninjas!"

"Or he might make you _disappear _in another sense for disturbing him"

"I say we have some fun first"

"Hey look, it's waking up"

"Freak"

"Animal"

The voices were annoying him, he was cold, and sore, and he couldn't feel his hands – wait, he couldn't feel his hands!

That thought snapped him out of his semiconscious state. As he opened his eyes, he found that he was backed up against a wall, his wrists were chained together, and his eyes followed the length of chain up to the metal plate against the wall. He must have been there for a while considering how numb his arms felt. Looking sideways, he realized he was on a roof. Thinking back, he tried to remember what had happened and how he'd gotten here.

* * *

His feet pounded against the concrete roof as he ran from his pursuers. It couldn't have been an ambush; there wasn't enough of them for that. It was just pure bad luck that they had run across each other as he returned from a scavenging trip.

They had attacked as soon as they realized he was alone. Ducking a punch, he placed a well-aimed spinning kick that knocked the first foot ninja out easily enough. The second had ran at him with his sword raised and feinted a swipe, before a third had tackled his legs making him fall backwards with a yell. He struggled to free himself from his attacker before any other opponents could land a blow. A lucky kick connected with the side of the man's temple and he was up and running before anyone could attack him again.

They had immediately taken up the chase and he knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up. Two of the ninja were now out cold, but that didn't stop their colleagues.

He had run until he couldn't run any more and had been forced to face his opponents. He had allowed his training to take over, parrying and blocking as he desperately fought for an advantage. He was exhausted and his flight across the rooftops had taken its toll on his strength.

A noise called him back to the present and he sharply pulled his head back as the sword flew inches in front of his face and buried itself into a gap in the brickwork. The impact caused the blade to tremble and he saw his shocked face reflected in the metal.

* * *

"What are you doing? I told you Shredder would want to deliver the killing blow himself!"

Quickly turning his head, he surveyed the four Foot ninja standing before him. One of them seemed to be angry and another was glaring back – as this was the only one of the four who no longer had a sword, it was pretty obvious who had tried to skewer him seconds before.

The two remaining Foot ninja were watching him, and he drew back as one of them stepped menacingly towards him.

The first two Foot ninja were still bickering. They reminded him of his family…

"Wouldn't it be easier if we just brought its head back to the Shredder?"

"I already told you. He wants to see it suffer, and he wants to try and draw out the others with it. He put _ME _in charge of this scout party, so if he didn't feel the need to inform you of specifics then that's not my problem."

"Shredder didn't talk to you, so don't flatter yourself. You got his orders through Hun"

"Still," the ninja replied, starting to sound ticked of "I'm the leader of this group not you." He turned his back to the fuming foot ninja "Let's get back to HQ."

The three Foot ninjas acknowledged his order, and left, although one was still obviously angry.

Before leaving, the leader of the group turned back and viewed the chained turtle. "I wouldn't want to be you tonight" he sneered, before following the rest of his group out of sight.

He shivered; he didn't want to think about how the Shredder intended to make him _suffer. _He had to get away. Desperately, he wished one of his brothers had come with him; he could have seriously used their help.

He yanked on the chain but only succeeded in tightening the loop around his wrists. As his mind ran through any possibilities he could think of, his eyes fell on the sword still buried in the wall next to him.

His hands were tied too high up for him to reach the sword, so he used the only other option he had.

Gritting his teeth, he held onto the chain as well as he could and pulled his feet up off the ground. Pain exploded along his arms, and his stomach muscles screamed. He had managed to pull himself up so that it looked like he was lying on air, although it felt more like a bed of nails. Managing to wrap his feet around the hilt of the sword, he pulled, trying to loosen it from its place in the wall. He hissed through the pain, and yanked it again. The sword loosened after a few more tugs, but still refused to give up its death grip with the wall.

Steeling himself, he yanked on the sword with all the strength he possessed in his legs. The sword clattered out of the wall, and he quickly reached out his left leg to stop it from skidding along the roof and out of his reach. The falling sword cut a gash in his leg and he yelled out in pain, but managed to stop the weapon from escaping him.

Hooking it between his feet again, he once more pulled himself up by the chain. The first time he attempted to slip the blade between the metal plate and the brick wall, he almost dropped it. He retained his grip just in time, and tried again, and again, and again. The blade refused to cooperate; he grew desperate, knowing he couldn't do this for much longer.

He became furious at the sword, and rammed it against the metal plate. The blade ground against the metal plate and the chain. Finding a weak connection, the blade easily sliced through separating the chain from the wall.

He had only a few seconds to register this before he crashed to the ground. His shell absorbed the worst of the impact, but the vibration traveled through him, driving the breath from his body. He lay, gasping, for a couple of minutes before silently reminding himself that he had to move before any of the Foot returned.

Shakily, he rolled onto his front and used his still chained hands to push himself upwards. He stumbled over to the side of the building, thanking his lucky stars that there was a fire escape leading to the ground. He was in no condition to jump of the building.

Then again, he mused as he descended the metal stairs, if he had any lucky stars, he probably wouldn't be in this mess to start with.

When he reached the last platform, he jumped off, staggering as the impact shook his legs. He stumbled along the alley, he knew where he was from the shops opposite, and he was sure there was a manhole cover around here somewhere…

Collapsing to his knees, he hooked his fingers under the manhole cover and heaved it sideways. His muscles protested at the strain and it was only pure fear that allowed him to continue afterwards.

The fear lent him strength and he managed to drop into the sewers below. He headed in the direction of the lair; his only thoughts were that he needed to return to his family.

He stopped under a storm drain, allowing the freezing water to drip down his neck. The coldness soothed his wounds, but he knew he had to move before he began to freeze. Reluctantly, he continued his walking and stumbling through the sewer tunnels.

If he stopped now, he would never start walking again, his mind knew this, yet his body fought him.

It pleaded for just five minutes rest and to curl up into a fetal position and just _lie _there. He wanted to, god he wanted to, but he wanted to get home more. The need for his family was overwhelming, blocking out everything else and dulling the pain. His legs screamed at him to stop, threatening to rebel against him, but he pushed on. He had to get back home, he just _had_ to.

* * *

"Dude, c'mon, get off" Mikey pleaded as he struggled under the weight of his brother. Raph had him securely pinned to the floor and wasn't about to give up this victory just yet.

They both looked up as the door to the lair opened, and Mikey's eyes grew wide as he stared in shock at the turtle in the doorway, with a length of chain dangling from his wrists.

Raph gasped "_Donnie?_"

Don turned his head and saw Leo exit his room and come running towards him. He collapsed into Leo's arms and relief flooded through him as the edges of his vision began to turn black.

"_I'm home_

_I'm with my brothers, my family_

_I'm safe…_."


End file.
